With potential clients bombarded by information, law firms must ensure their newsletters not only look good but also contain relevant and topical articles, reports Chris Baker


Once lawyers were seen as invaluable as guardians of specialist information, but in an age where most important court rulings and a panoply of other legal material are available on-line, how can a firm keep its clients loyal while attracting new ones? Step forward the humble newsletter.

The profession, from magic circle giants to sole practitioners, has had to up its game recently to ensure that their newsletters are increasingly relevant and timely. These documents must also be of use to both existing and potential clients. While all agree that newsletters remain an essential marketing tool, there is still some dissent over the value of electronic communications.



Recently, the in-house teams at nine financial institutions combined their efforts, persuading five leading City firms to pilot a new shared information portal for accessing legal updates and information (see [2005] Gazette, 10 February, 12). Allen & Overy, Clifford Chance, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Linklaters and Simmons & Simmons have all agreed to provide legal briefings and newsletters for a unique shared portal with a view to moving towards a joint database of industry-specific templates, precedents and advice.



Despite recent advances in publishing technology, many firms have not taken advantage of them, still producing dull-looking, text-heavy newsletters that do little to distinguish themselves. By contrast, defendant insurance firm Vizards Wyeth recently launched a rather more colourful newsletter – named RiSki Business – aimed at travel agents, tour operators and their insurers.



City firm Lewis Silkin has taken the simple but effective step of producing a distinctively-shaped range of briefings which can be recognised from the size of the envelope.


‘They’re aimed not just at lawyers but at other people with responsibility for legal affairs,’ head of marketing Mark King says. ‘The most important principles to keep in mind are timeliness, relevant content, frequency and the format.’



For Mr King, one of his firm’s most important publications is the funny-shaped News notes. This comprises a booklet of usually eight articles, with word lengths limited to around 250 words per item. These are produced for roughly six different sectors that the firm has dealings with, such as employment, sport law, social housing and marketing. ‘The content has to be tailored very specifically for the person who receives it,’ he explains. ‘The recipient must value it.’



He adds that eye-catching design is important to newsletters fulfilling their potential, saying ‘it helps reinforce the brand’.


The firm also produces client guides covering more technical issues on a topic-by-topic basis, Mr King says. ‘It’s almost an introduction to particular legal issues,’ he adds. In addition, the firm offers a ‘newsflash’ bulletin to give clients updates on subjects of interest to them.


‘All of these have been historically in printed format, but my point about format is that the advent of e-mail and Web sites has changed the whole nature of how we can deliver information,’ says Mr King.


‘Most clients are now swamped with law firm literature, so the issue is how can we stand out and achieve marketing benefits and e-mail has become quite important.’



E-mails can add immediacy to a firm’s communication with clients, hopefully adding value to the newsletter, he explains: ‘For law firms to just produce newsletters is not a clever thing because everyone is doing it.’


The immediacy of e-mail briefings shows a firm has ‘its finger on the pulse’, which helps make a statement about itself as a brand, says Mr King.


But there is now immense competition among the larger firms in providing the most relevant and eye-catching newsletters. ‘If ever there is an in-house lawyers panel at a legal conference, the message that comes through is that these people are getting absolutely bombarded by 101 different firms,’ Mr King admits. This is why quality and relevance is of the essence, he adds.


But a newsletter can help a firm stand out in the crowd, if it is done well. ‘You need to keep up to date with legal developments but, once you’ve done that, how do you use it to differentiate yourself?’ Mr King asks. ‘There’s a number of ways of doing that and publications are just one part of the armoury. It’s time-consuming but essential for differentiating yourself in the eyes of existing and potential clients.’


Clients have now come to assume they will receive this information. Makbool Javaid, an employment partner at City firm DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary, organises a regular e-mail detailing updates in equality and diversity issues. He says: ‘Firms feel obliged to have newsletters to show clients they can bring them up to date on particular issues. There is an expectation on the part of the client that they will receive this information – we are in an age of information overload.’


Newsletters can make the relationship between lawyer and client ‘easier,’ according to Mr Javaid. E-mails are more immediate than hard copy, and can be sent out more speedily, and cheaply. ‘You know the e-mail is going to the right person in the office and it will not be cluttering up their desks – they can either print it and read it later or read it on-screen,’ he says.


But both Mr Javaid and Mr King urge that writing in plain English is the key. ‘We are living in an age where people are used to getting lots of information,’ says Mr Javaid. ‘The challenge for law firms is how to make their newsletters accessible to clients.’ In the past, lawyers merely passed on information. But now High Court, Court of Appeal, House of Lords and European Union rulings are easily found for free on-line, so the law firm has to work out how to best interpret them for their clients rather than pass on the information, as was the case previously, he explains. Existing clients see they are getting a valuable service, and potential new business may be brought in if the information provided has a good reputation.


It is not just the larger firms that have grasped the marketing value of having relevant newsletters. Sole Practitioners Group chairman Adrian Heale says: ‘Sending out a newsletter is as useful for a little firm as it is for a big one. Firms produce their own or use organisations that produce publications on a corporate basis that are then personalised.’


But, unlike among the larger firms, Mr Heale reckons there is little competition. ‘I think it’s more to remind clients that the firm exists,’ he explains. ‘It’s worth taking time over them, providing that expense produces work.’


David Downton, a sole practitioner based in Milton Keynes, says his newsletters have proven ‘vital’. ‘You go out and meet people who might not have a legal problem at that time,’ he explains. ‘They might not remember me when they need help in a year or two. For me a newsletter is about keeping in touch with people – some clients receive my newsletters for several years [without instructing me] but they know where I am when they need help.’


Mr Downton prefers simplicity in his newsletters, keeping them to a single sheet of A4. People are more likely to read that than five pages of dense text, he reckons.


But he is also against e-mail versions. ‘People get so many e-mails – I get too many myself – that I’m not sure whether people find the chance to read them all,’ he explains.



‘People will be selective about what they read and people will at least glance at a single sheet of paper. It’s easy to delete an e-mail without even looking at it.’


While the e-mail revolution may not have extended its reach across the legal profession, the realisation is there that keeping up effective lines of communication is invaluable for client loyalty. How this is done is up to individual firms – from slick, specialised publications to the more traditional view of the newsletter – but all realise the marketing value of keeping people up to date.


When so much information is available at the touch of a button, making sure that the client receives the facts as relevant to them as soon as they become available with a minimum of legalese makes perfect business sense.



Chris Baker is a freelance journalist